Bill Bucklew won't let Parkinson's diagnosis stop him from walking across the country

Bill Bucklew walks along US 70 near Las Cruces on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018. Bucklew is walking across the country to bring awareness and educate people he meets along the way about Parkinson's disease.(Photo11: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)Buy Photo

LAS CRUCES - Bill Bucklew is on a 2,503-mile walk across the country to bring attention to Parkinson’s Disease.

Bucklew, who was diagnosed with early-onset Parkinson's at the age of 43 in 2012, walked into Las Cruces via US 70 on Friday. He'll stay the night here before continuing his journey west.

Bucklew left Tybee Island, Georgia. on Nov. 24, with the target of reaching San Diego In January. His goal is to walk the journey in 52 days, which comes out to about 52 miles per day,

The Wilmette, Ill. native told the Ruidoso News he's determined to help find a cure by walking to raise awareness, stopping along the way to talk to people who have been affected by the disease and the curious. He welcomes anyone who wants to join him for a few miles or more.

The conversations and friends collected along his way will be recorded and eventually turned into a movie to help raise awareness.

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Bill Bucklew, walking along US 70 near Las Cruces on Friday, Jan. 12, 2018, is on a 2,503 cross-country trip from Georgia to California.(Photo11: Josh Bachman/Sun-News)

“It will build a mosaic of the breadth and impact Parkinson’s has on people,” Bucklew explained in a previous publication about his project.

Parkinson's is a progressive brain disease characterized by the loss of dopamine cells. More than 1.5 million Americans are diagnosed with the condition. It is the most common form of 'parkinsonism,' a group of neurological disorders that include those people with tremors, rigidity, bradykinesia (slowness), and imbalance.

Immediately after his diagnosis, Bucklew joined the Parkinson’s Progression Markers Initiative, a biomarker medical study to find disease indicators, and began fundraising for Team Fox, the sports and activity related fundraising arm of the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Bucklew is raising money through this walk for his own not-for-profit, UnCorked Adventures.